Speaking of tires... I just received a newsletter from one of our vintage orgs - a very good one - and it included mention of a tire "crackdown" for this season with some pretty severe punishment for those who are found to be using an illegal tire.

I don't get it! At this stage of the game why on earth does anyone care? Do some tires have an advantage? - I hope so. Are some tires more expensive - absolutely, in fact some of the most expensive tires are also the most legal tires.

The argument always seems to come down to the "look" of it. Tell me that doesn't sound stupid. I've got no problem with a spec tire except that some chassis work best with radials and some with bias, so if you "spec" a tire, someones getting the short end. So unless you're running in a spec class, in a spec car, a spec tire is really not workable.

In my perfect world, competitors could run any tire they choose as long as it fits the spec wheel and wheel well. Come on, get over it, the Atlas Plycron era is dead, and there isn't an authentic vintage tire to be had... at least that anyone would use.

In MY perfect world, I would make everyone put on those skinny ass, hard as shit tires they run at Goodwood and other Euro events. If you ain't slidin' you ain't drivin'

Sounds like you'd enjoy entering a drifting event... I assume that the tires are OK, but that the contact and carnage at these events would not be OK? I've never understood the satisfaction of taking your valuable antique race car to Goodwood, handing it over to your hired pro shoe, having him beat the daylights out of it (they're professional race car drivers not museum curators), loading all the pieces back onto your trailer, and then bragging about what a great thing it was.

My point is quite simple, what's the point about worrying over what tires are legal and which are not? Absolutely none of them have anything even remotely in common with what was raced on in the 70s... thank God. If they fit the legal rim size and fit inside the fender line, then they are legal in my mind.

When I first ran in vintage events (in my Arkley... talk about AAARGGH!), I was using the Hoosier TDs. I loved them, but they did tend to lock-up easily under braking and flat spot. Finally at the last event of the season I ruined my fronts and the only tires for sale at the track were with Sasco and they were Avon ACB10s. These weren't "legal" for my class but I had no option so I laid out nearly a grand and used them the rest of the weekend. The following year I bought a new set of Hoosiers and thought I'd use the Avons for practice and race on the Hoosiers. I went to Mid-Ohio and after practice was half-way through mounting the Hoosiers when a breathless JFW corralled me and read me the riot act about being such a bad, bad guy for being seen with the Avons... So thus ended my use of the Avons and began the friendship with JFW.

The reason I tell this little story is to comment that IF there was any sort of advantage to the Avons over the Hoosiers, my little oxcart couldn't use it. And my lap times didn't show it. So the only reason to outlaw them was strictly their looks. Which at speed, on the track, is more or less a black round thing.

So now I'm racing on slicks with the SCCA. I'm a little new to this at the moment, but so far their main advantage does not seem to be overall lateral grip, but much better braking power and more consistent grip through the entire race session. Other than that, the Hoosier TDs are just as much fun.

Speaking of fun, I think a "boardroom" face-to-face discussion about all the many rules could be good fun, and probably inject a lot more good humor into what we care about... Just a thought.

So drifting - nah. Not to denigrate the skills required but it's not racing so it doesn't turn me on.

Goodwood - Just a reference for the tires and NOT a comment on driving etiquette. I would not subject my car to that abuse but neither one of us has the budget to enter a car there so it's a moot point. As I like to say, never put a car on track that you can't afford to push off a cliff - and those guys can clearly afford to push damn near anything off a cliff! Great fun to watch and I don't get wound up about whether it's a proper way to use the cars.

Tires - we'll just have to agree to disagree - to a certain degree. I don't agree with the "if it fits, it's legal" philosophy. Neither do I have the time and inclination to come up with my own set of exhaustive tire rules. So If we are going to have any rules, it is sensible and expedient to follow the SVRA tire rules. And if we are going to have rules, the folks that follow the rules get rightly indignant when they see others ignoring said rules. As the newsletter says, we tried asking nicely and that was not working. Nice to know that the message is getting out and being heard.